


The Legendary Moving Castle Of The Heart-Eating Viktor Nikiforov(isn't actually a castle and he doesn't actually eat hearts)!!!

by Rach172



Category: Howl's Moving Castle - All Media Types, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: A panic attack will happen at some point, AU, Comedy, Does Fairy tale apply for this?, F/M, Howl's Moving Castle, I Don't Even Know, I am so planning a little angst, I have something else planned, I might throw in an injury if I can squeeze it in, I need to stop tagging, I think it does?, I'm pretty sure I'm messing this up, Is teen because of possible use off profanities, JJ and Yuri fights a lot, JJ style!, M/M, Magic, Not Beta Read, Planning a Happy End!, Romance, Screw it - Freeform, There will be background relationships - Freeform, Victor will be an oblivious idiot, Viktor is spelled with a 'k', Viktor is tired of them breaking stuff, Will adjust tags later, Will not follow every detail of Howl's Moving Castle, Won't make it easy, Yurio want's to kick Viktor, Yuuri is Yurio's favorite, Yuuri is cursed, Yuuri will be a little sarcastic, as well as a few OC's, but she's school crazy right now and doesn't even want me near a computer, cause I'm a evil little shit, fight me, for I have no Beta, only for unimportant background roles though, other than my mom, so she's out, the fic won't be complete without one, though, we'll see where the story takes us, what else do you expect from our angry little kitten?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:18:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11726511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rach172/pseuds/Rach172
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki had a quiet life. He worked with his family at their inn, he occasionally took dance-classes from a family friend, Minako, and he occasionally went out with his few close friends. He had everything he needed and didn't see the point in looking for more, but when a chance encounter with a stranger left him cursed he had no other choice but to leave his quiet life behind and set out to find a way to break the spell. If his journey involves a wizard famous for allegedly eating hearts(when in fact he has no appetite for the stuff), his fiery but lovable apprentice and a moving castle...well who is he to decline a good adventure?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for clicking on this fic, it's the first one that I ever wrote for the Yuri on Ice fandom and I'm really excited about it! I apologize in advance for any mistakes I might make and I ask you all to please be patient with me. Don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism though, I have no beta and I really want this fic to do well, so don't be afraid to critique me if you think it's necessary(except if you comment with the soul purpose of being a jerk-face, in which case don't bother).
> 
> There's just one more thing before you read, I might have altered the ages slightly so the current ages are as follows:
> 
> Yuuri:-20  
> Viktor:-24  
> Yurio:-15
> 
> Yurio is slightly older than what he's technically supposed to be, because, well, just because that's the way the story goes for this fic and because I have possible mysterious plans for him in the future.
> 
> Anyway, thank you for reading this, I'll end this note here for now, please enjoy the story!

“Yuuri! We’re heading out now, are you sure you don’t want to come to the festival with us?”

Yuuri Katsuki looked up to face his mother where she was standing in the doorway of the inn’s kitchen. Placing one of the dishes he just finished drying away, he smiled up at her while pushing his thick-framed glasses further up his nose once they had started slipping off.

“It’s fine mom, besides I still need to finish up here.”

His reassurance didn’t seem to sooth his mother’s worrying as she gazed into his brown eyes.

“Yuuri, the dishes can wait a few hours. You’re always working so hard, you need to get out and have fun with your friends more often. Your father, sister and I love you very much Yuuri, but we can’t help but be worried every now and then. It’s not good for a young and handsome man to shut himself up all the time.”

Yuuri had to hold back a sigh as he listened to his mother talk. He has heard this same speech from both his family and his few close friends so many times through the years that he could recite it by memory alone. He loved his family and friends and knew that they meant well but they worried too much. 

Yuuri was perfectly fine living his life the way he was now, away from large crowds of people and unnecessary attention. If only he could get the people closest him to understand that just because he wasn’t actively seeking out adventure after adventure like many of the other young inhabitants of their small town, didn’t necessarily mean that he was unhappy.

Sending his mother another reassuring smile, he unwittingly made a decision that would change the entire course his life was currently heading in.

“I know mom, I’ll see about visiting Phichit when I’m done with this, so I won’t be at home the entire time, okay?”

Seemingly appeased by her son’s promise of heading out later, Hiroko relented and allowed herself to be whisked away by the rest of her family to go join the rest of the festivities.

Alone once more, the young man returned his attention back to the pile of dishes, drying each one slowly and thoroughly before putting them away in their proper place. Once the last dish was placed neatly on the pile in the cabinet, Yuuri let his hands fall to his sides aimlessly as he thought about his next move.

_‘I don’t have to go out, the streets are sure to be packed with the celebrations as well as the parade…but I promised mom that I would and it’s been a while since I dropped by, Phichit will definitely give me an earful if I don’t visit him soon.’_

Resigning himself to the cruel fate of having to navigate through the crowded streets, Yuuri shrugged on a blue waist coat over his white dress-shirt, fixed his sleeves(which he rolled up before doing the dishes) and grabbed his, admittedly plain, hat and left the inn in the capable hands of their employees before leaving.

Just as he feared, the streets were packed. It took all the will-power he had to not just turn around right then and there, but the thought was never-the-less very tempting. As he navigated through the streets, occasionally exchanging greetings with passer-by’s(more like they greeted them and he reciprocated due to hours of gruelling lessons in manners from both his mother and his dance-teacher) he mentally debated the best route to take.

_‘If I go through the alley-way next to the building along with a few others I should be able to reach the theatre in about forty minutes, then again…if I cut through the square I might be able to get a ride on one of the carts and cut my traveling time down by at least twenty or twenty-five minutes. But the square is always so full during festivals, I’m pretty sure Phichit mentioned something about a dance this time…the other way is always much quieter, though it can be quite dangerous if you think about it…but festivals can be too with it being the ideal time for pick-pockets to strike. Phichit did say that the theatre was going to close earlier today to give the other performers a chance to enjoy the festivities, though, so if I don’t hurry I might not be able to catch Phichit before he leaves…’_

Letting out a sigh reminiscent of that of a man who has the entire weight of the world on his shoulder and totally not appropriate for someone who’s only twenty, the raven-haired man turned a corner that led right into a sea of people, while tucking his glasses away into an inside pocket of his waist coat. Glasses were expensive and he was not about to lose another pair all because he got shoved and they landed on the ground only to be demolished by stampeding feet.

_‘The square it is…’_

The town square was alive and loud with music blaring loudly from the small band playing on a podium right in the centre of all the activity while people danced around it, laughter filled the air and everybody seemed to forget all their troubles. It really was a spectacular sight and if it weren’t for his crippling anxiety or his apparent fear of having to socialise, Yuuri would have been very tempted to join them, as things are, however, he was currently trying to make himself as small as possible while he weaved through the dancing couples, trying to go unnoticed.

As he was walking, he passed by a small group of people surrounding someone, the sound of squealing and complements were easily heard over the music, as well as a heavily accented voice replying to them calmly. Yuuri caught a glimpse of silver hair and shrugged.

_‘Must be a tourist, as far as I know nobody in Hasetsu has silver hair…except for the older generation, but I highly doubt so many girls and boys would be in the process of swooning over whoever it is if they were over fifty… Oh well…whoever it is should be gone soon enough so I guess it doesn’t really matter. I wonder how things are going over by the theatre? Phichit told me last time that they were going to put on a brand-new show soon about a king and a figure-skater, he said he was planning to go out for the roll of the skater. I wonder whether he managed to get it…I hope he did, he’s always so hard-working and dedicated not to mention passionate when it comes to performing, if anyone deserves to get that part it’s him.’_

“Darling!!! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! You’re late!”

Abruptly pulled out of his thoughts by both the loud voice next to him(a heavily accented voice at that) and the arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulder, it was all Yuuri could do to not let a startled scream escape his lips. Just what exactly was going on?!

His entire body going stiff just thinking of all the possible gruesome and terrifying things that could follow, Yuuri risked a glance upwards only to freeze up even more as his startled brown eyes met with gorgeous blue. Yuuri wished he didn’t take off his glasses, if only because he would then have been able to see this stranger clearly, but even with his blurry vision he was able to see one thing clearly. The man was beautiful. 

He had long silver hair that cascaded down his shoulders like a waterfall, and although only the elderly had white hair, his seemed to make him look even younger, then there was his smile…that kind of smile shouldn’t even be possible, I mean really, what kind of person has a smile that looked just like a heart?

_‘This one apparently…’_

Supplied Yuuri’s mind unhelpfully.

Then there was his eyes, his eyes had to be the most vibrant shade of blue that Yuuri had ever seen, and yet…they seemed kind of dull…as if their owner had lost all of his drive…but that could just be due to the fact that Yuuri wasn’t wearing his glasses.

As if the stranger didn’t stand out enough, even his clothes drew in the eye with their…um…eccentric appearance. The plain white dress shirt that he was wearing wasn’t so bad(even if he left the top three buttons undone) and it suited him nicely along with his black pants…his jacket however…Yuuri had never before seen such an obnoxiously vibrant shade of magenta and he was sure that if anybody else wore it they would immediately be labelled an arrogant prick, but somehow it actually looks good on him. However, the sheer amount of jewellery this guy had on was just plain reckless and an invitation for thieves to strike, and that’s not even starting on his earrings...

Yuuri could feel the heat spreading across his cheeks and neck. Why in the world is a person who could easily be mistaken for royalty standing next to someone like Yuuri with an arm around Yuuri’s shoulder and calling him darling?!

_‘What’s going on?! Who is this guy? Why is he touching me? He called me darling! Why would he call me darling? We’ve never met before now…did we? I don’t know what’s going on! He said I was late, am I late? Late for what? Did I accidentally make plans with this guy and then forgot about it…and him? No! No way! I would definitely have remembered meeting this guy…unless…shit! Please tell me I didn’t meet this guy after getting black-out drunk! No…no…calm down Yuuri, I’m sure that’s not the case…Phichit would have told me something, unless he was equally as drunk… No! Nope! I know that I never met this guy before! The last time Phichit dragged me to a party and I got that drunk was months ago, nobody would make plans such a long time in advance and not even exchange letters. This guy must just have me confused for someone else. Yes, that’s it. Any moment now he’ll realize that he made a mistake, apologize and walk away… WHY ISN’T HE WALKING AWAY?!’_

Seemingly oblivious to poor Yuuri’s internal struggles, the stranger just kept smiling at him with his unfairly beautiful smile. If anything, he tightened his hold, causing the poor boy’s already racing heart to increase its pounding tenfold and the red spreading across his face to turn a few shades darker than it already was. 

When it became clear that the stranger was awaiting a reply, there was a hundred things that Yuuri wanted to tell him. ‘Sorry, you have the wrong person.’, ‘I don’t know you, sorry.’, ‘Have we met?’, ‘Please remove your arm, you’re making me uncomfortable.’ And let’s not forget ‘Damn, you have beautiful eyes.’, but under the piercing blue of the stranger’s gaze, his own speeding heartbeat and the nerves that were quickly getting the better of him, he could only manage to stutter out one word.

“Ah…um…s-sorry?”

Seemingly not noticing the tenseness off poor Yuuri’s shoulders, the man simply continued beaming at him with his blinding smile and started leading him away from the small group of people who were surrounding him earlier and who were now watching the exchange with gaping jaws. Honestly, Yuuri couldn’t blame them, his jaw felt like dropping at the sudden situation too. And too make matters worse, he’s pretty sure he recognizes a few of the people in the group, even with his blurry vision…If he’s right and Gabby Lawson is indeed among them nearly the entire town will know of this encounter by this time tomorrow.

“Don’t worry about it, my dear, I’m just delighted to once again see your beautiful face.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the entirety of the small group stumble in surprise as they collectively called out, “EHH!!!!!”. He nearly joined them, before realisation dawned.

_‘Of course! I get it now! This is a prank! It must be, after all he just called me beautiful which is completely ridiculous! He’s just some tourist who happened to be passing through today and got bored so he decided to kick up some drama for entertainment. Well, the joke was funny enough while it lasted, he really had me going for a second, but I don’t appreciate being held for a fool. I might not be attractive or anything, I know that much, but that doesn’t give him a right to make fun of me like this!’_

The more Yuuri thought about it and the more he decided that this entire set-up was just some kind of twisted joke, the angrier he became. He barely noticed that the stranger led him far out of ear-shot from the group and right unto the dance-floor until they passed by the rowdy musicians. Clenching his shaking fists to his side, Yuuri opened his mouth to speak, to tell the stranger that just because he was a rich prick didn’t give him a right to make fun of him, that just because he was obviously stunning and far out of Yuuri’s league didn’t mean that he had to rub it in his face.

“I-”

“Thank you for playing along and not calling me out.”

The warm voice abruptly pulled Yuuri out of his thoughts of giving the stranger a piece of his mind. His accent curled around each syllable, it’s ridiculous, an accent alone shouldn’t be able to make one guy’s voice sound so musical. The gears in Yuuri’s head abruptly came to a standstill, leaving his brain standing still on one particular thought.

_‘Fuck. He has a really nice voice.’_

Oblivious to the effect his voice has on our protagonist, the stranger just takes his silence as a sign to continue talking.

“I’m sorry for just grabbing you out of nowhere like that. But that particular group has had me cornered for quite some time now, and when I saw you it was as if angels started singing! I knew that someone with such beautiful and clear eyes would be kind enough to help me-”

“I’m going to stop you right there.”

The stranger’s blue eyes widened slightly at the soft voice that so abruptly cut him off and found himself staring into Yuuri’s brown eyes, which were clearly frowning at him. The raven-haired boy sighed and continued talking before all his nerve left him.

“Even though I dislike the fact that you used me, I can understand why, but the fact that you continue to mock me is rude and insulting. Just because I might not be as attractive as others doesn’t mean that you have to…”

Yuuri cut himself off with a sigh.

“Look, you accomplished what you wanted and got away from those people so you don’t need me anymore, in which case could you let go of me? I’m running late as it is and-” 

Before he could say anything else, the silver-haired stranger abruptly grabbed his hands and pulled Yuuri closer. Any semblance of appearing calm and collected disappeared from Yuuri, he could feel his ears burning and knew for a fact that he likely resembled a tomato at the moment. It just wasn’t fair…how could anyone be expected to be calm and collected while looking into the most beautiful blue eyes ever, while their owner is clutching his hands like his life depended on it.

The stranger himself was staring wide-eyed at Yuuri, and it could only be his imagination but Yuuri could swear that the man looked worried. The stranger opened his mouth to speak again and Yuuri tried not to look at the way his lips were moving(which is a lot harder when there is so little distance between the two people concerned) opting to focus on his eyes instead(which is a lot easier with them being such a wonderful shade of blue, though it might have been a mistake considering that it is getting progressively harder to look away).

“You have it all wrong.”

The stranger says urgently.

“It was not my attention to mock you, I truly do think your eyes are stunning and if I have offended you in any way I am truly sorry. I admit that it might have been inappropriate of me to just use you as a means of escape and you have my deepest apologies, but please give me a chance to make it up to you.”

Yuuri was at a loss for what to do. The man wasn’t making things any easier by looking so much like a kicked puppy. Averting his gaze to an extremely interesting looking crack on a nearby building, he let out a heavy sigh.

“O-okay, fine. Y-you’re forgiven, bu-but I really need to go now…um…so…”

The rate at which the man’s expression changed was just plain alarming and Yuuri wished he had his hands back so that he could cover his face with them, or at the very least take a few steps back from the worryingly brightness of the smile.

“Really? I’m so happy! But I insist of making it up to you somehow! It would only be right. I’ve got it! I’ll be your escort to where-ever it is that you’re going!”

_‘This man was going to cause me to die of heart-failure, isn’t he?’_

“N-no, no, r-really that’s n-not necessary!”

Yuuri tried to decline the offer as politely as possible, but the stranger was relentless. The more distance Yuuri tried to put between them, the closer he seemed to move until his lips were right next to Yuuri’s ear.

“Please, I insist.”

His warm breath tickled Yuuri’s ear and it took everything Yuuri had not to spontaneously combust right then and there. Swallowing once, he tried to ignore how much his legs were suddenly shaking as well as how his heart is threatening to beat out of his chest.

_‘This man…he really doesn’t play fair, does he? Why does he have to be so close?! Doesn’t he know the meaning of personal space?! I should just push him away and run, yes I’m going to push him back and run in the other direction!’_

Mind made up, Yuuri braced himself to put his plan into action, only to freeze when he sees the hopeful expression on the other’ s face. Instead of pushing the other away and running, he gives a shaky nod of his head.

“O-okay then…”

_‘Damn…I should really stop looking at him…period…’_

The happy smile on the other’s face was near blinding as he offered his arm towards Yuuri, who only hesitated for a second before taking it.

“Great! Don’t worry my dear, I won’t disappoint! This’ll be an experience you’ll never forget!”

A nervous smile made its way onto Yuuri’s mouth while a single sweat-drop ran down his neck.

_‘What did I just get myself into?!’_


	2. Chapter 2:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viktor and Yuuri interacts a little more and...PHICHIT APPEARS!!!!
> 
> (I suck at summaries...why do they have to be so hard to write!?!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SOO SOOO SORRY!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN FILL THE GRAND CANYON TO THE BRIM WITH THE AMOUNT OF REGRET I HAVE!!!!!! I am so sorry that an unworthy writer such as myself had the audacity to make all of you wait so long for a chapter!!!!! But life got in the way, and my only beta(my mom) hasn't had an opportunity to proof read this and a lot of thing happened! Again, I AM SO SORRY! I promise that I'll do my best to not let my absence repeat itself!!!!!!! Please enjoy the chapter, I enjoyed writing it because Phichit makes his first appearance in this and he's my favorite character(...unfortunately he's also one that I struggle writing...but I think/hope that I did a decent job with him), I hope that you all like this!

Hasetsu was a small town and, like in all small towns, the majority of the buildings were small as well. However, this just made the big buildings in this town seem all the more special in the eyes of the towns inhabitants.

The theatre was one of the most well-known as well as one of the biggest buildings in all of Hasetsu. It was located in one of the busier parts of town and was a constant buzz of activity. Its walls were a soft creamy white colour and were decorated by several posters of the theatre’s past productions. From Monday, straight through to Saturday passer-by’s can hear the soft sound of music from the rehearsals within and they’ll long for opening night to arrive. The shows are unique, the stories beautiful and the performers were filled with energy and driven by both their love for the arts as well as their passion to put their all into each and every performance. Phichit was no exception…

Phichit had been in love with the theatre and performing ever since he was still in diapers. The majority of his childhood consisted out of putting on small shows for his friends and family, which usually involved his hamsters and, once he entered school, his best friend, Yuuri, was also dragged into it. The hobby soon turned into a career as he passed his first audition and successfully landed the role of ‘Cricitinae’, a witch who cursed a prince to turn into a hamster, at the young age of fifth-teen. His job also served to feed his second passion…gossip.

It was no secret that the boy revelled in collecting the latest scoop, and hearing the latest drama. If someone has a secret, he’ll probably find out about it before a week has passed. Like moths to a flame, interesting stories, drama and the latest news flock to him. A major upside to having a job at the theatre just so happens to be that it is one of the most dramatic places in town and as a result, Phichit is sure that he pretty much heard everything. Or at least he was until a frantic looking stagehand came running up to him just as he was about to leave and telling him that his best friend just landed on the third floor’s balcony…

**************************

As his feet once again came into contact with solid ground, Yuuri turned towards the man perched on the balcony’s rail behind him. His long silver hair was in the process of being tousled around by the wind and Yuuri’s fingers itched to come the unruly strands back into place. He was smiling his heart shaped smile once again, and Yuuri couldn’t help but to smile back at him. Who wouldn’t be smiling after the experience that he just had?

Yuuri’s heart was pounding inside his chest, so loudly he was almost afraid that the stranger would be able to hear it. He still couldn’t believe that any of what had just happened was real. Any moment now he was positive that he would wake up and find that the entire thing had just been a crazy, fantastic, amazing dream that was the result of one drink to many with Minako, or maybe because he was reading an extremely strange book before bed. It was the only explanation for meeting a stranger so beautiful it couldn’t be natural and then actually being able to…

The stranger gracefully jumped off of his position on the railing and came to a landing in front of the wide-eyed man, before bowing. His silver locks flowing downwards in a way that is reminiscent of a waterfall. He raised his head, his magical blue eyes once again meeting Yuuri’s (self-proclaimed ‘boring’ and ‘plain’) brown ones, and pressed a kiss to the back of Yuuri’s hand. Eyes widening slightly, Yuuri’s breath hitched, until that moment he had completely forgotten that they were still holding hands.

Ignoring the blush that was undoubtedly spreading across his face like a wild-fire, Yuuri pulled his hand out of the other’s grasp the second that the other man started straitening up. The place where his lips touched his hand burned.

The stranger tilted his head ever so slightly to the right, a strand of hair falling across his face and Yuuri’s mouth ran dry.

_‘Shit…I’m dead. That look killed me. How is it possible for someone to look both majestic and cute at the same time?! That combination is dangerous! That combination should not exist!’_

“I hope you found the flight to be pleasant. I don’t get a lot of passengers, so I was a bit worried that I’d drop you! But everything turned out fine so that’s a relief!”

_‘His voice really is nice, I wonder where his accent is fro-…wait…WHAT!!!!’_

A bead of sweat ran down Yuuri’s neck as he processed the implications of the stranger’s words, his eyes widening slightly.

“You were w-worried that you’d d-drop me?!”

Seemingly undeterred, or just oblivious, to the slight panic in Yuuri’s voice the stranger just nodded and continued on talking while scratching the back of his neck.

“Yep! I’m really glad I didn’t though, otherwise it might have been a little problematic.”

Yuuri sweat-drops at those words, especially in the casual manner that they were said.

_‘A little problematic?! If he dropped me I’d be dead! I’d think that that would have been a lot more than just a little problematic!’_

“But never-mind all that. Did we get here in time? You seemed really concerned after we missed the cart.”

_‘Oh yea…I almost forgot…’_

Glancing at the clocktower in the distance, Yuuri nodded. In fact, he was almost sure that they beat the cart there by a full ten minutes. Turning his gaze back to the silver haired man, he allowed a small smile to spread across his face.

“Yes, thank you.”

The stranger’s already impossibly wide smile only seemed to grow even wider as he, once again, dipped into an elegant bow(mercifully he didn’t press another kiss to Yuuri’s hand this time, otherwise the poor boy might not have been able to survive it), once again causing a blush to spread across Yuuri’s face.

“Don’t worry about it, it was the least I could do. Though it really is a pity we didn’t get to ride the cart, I’ve never been on one before and it looked fascinating…”

The stranger’s lips tugged into a pout and Yuuri’s brain momentarily stopped working, before latching on to the latter part of the sentence.

“Yo-you’ve never been on a cart before?”

Some kind of emotion flashed across the stranger’s face, it seemed extremely out of place on his previously smiling face but it was gone before Yuuri could even try to put a name to it.

“No, I never seem to get a chance and when I do something always comes up at the last minute…”

“Oh…”

Yuuri flinched internally at himself.

_‘Seriously, Yuuri?! Seriously?! He tells you that he’s never been on a cart before and all you can say is ‘oh’! I can’t believe my mouth sometimes!’_

Completely unfazed, the strangers expression brightened(not unlike a firework exploding) and he grabbed Yuuri’s hands pulling him closer to him.

“Next time you’ll ride the cart with me, right? I want you to show me what fun I’ve been missing out on.”

Face resembling a tomato, it was all Yuuri could do to reclaim enough of his bodily functions to nod. The way that the stranger’s eyes lit up at that made Yuuri’s heart stutter.

_‘This is it…isn’t it? He’s given me a heart attack, hasn’t he?’_

The stranger pulled away, and if Yuuri was less focussed on his imminent heart failure he might have noticed that it was much slower than necessary.

“I’m afraid that I have to go now….”

The man seemed much more subdued then before, and for a brief moment Yuuri allowed himself to wonder whether the other felt as disappointed as he did.

_‘No.’_

Yuuri thought firmly, ignoring the disappointment building up in his gut.

_‘Of course, he wouldn’t be disappointed. Why would he be? He’s probably relieved that he doesn’t have to cart me around playing escort anymore…after all he must have hundreds of other people who he would much rather spend time with, I wouldn’t blame him. I’m not anything special. I must have been dreadful company as well, everybody’s always telling me that I need to learn how to communicate better with others… why didn’t I ever listen to them?’_

Jumping onto the railing of the balcony, the stranger turned around and winked at Yuuri flashing him a cheeky smile.

“Goodbye for now, darling!”

The casual use of the endearment left Yuuri choking on air as patches of red bloomed across his cheeks. The stranger merely laughed, Yuuri was sure that it wasn’t healthy to like a sound that much, and gave Yuuri a two-fingered salute before casually falling backwards and out of sight.

Regaining control of his legs once more, Yuuri rushed towards the railing peering over the edge cautiously. To his relief there was no eccentrically-dressed and mangled body on the ground, however, to his slight mortification, there were several people gathered around the theatre staring up at it(at him) slack-jawed.

Backing up, he turned and went through the door leading inside. Once the door closed behind him and he was alone in the theatre’s attic, he sagged down and tried to process everything that had happened within the last twenty minutes. A dusty floor in a room filled with boxes and a lot of creepy props might not have been the best thinking place, but it was quiet and that was what Yuuri needed at the moment…or at least it was quiet until Phichit came barrelling up the stairs not even five minutes later…

***************************

“Okay, lets recap for a moment… You were walking through the town-square on your way here when some guy pretended to be your boyfriend to get away from his admirers and offered to be your escort as a thank you. But the two of you missed the cart so he took you by the hand and led you into an alley-way with a dead end and as you were walking you started flying until he dropped you of on the balcony where he made you promise to ride on a bus with him the next time he’s in town before disappearing into thin air...”

The boy sitting across from him with his legs pulled up against his chest, nodded once.

“Yep.”

Phichit, from where he sat with his legs crossed, leaned towards Yuuri with a serious expression on his face.

“How good-looking was he?”

His face turning red from his best friend’s absolute shamelessness, Yuuri reeled backwards spluttering.

“P-Phichit!!!”

Phichit couldn’t help but to laugh at Yuuri’s reaction, earning an indignant sound of protest from the embarrassed boy, who has resorted to trying to vanish himself by curling up into a ball. After a few moment’s though his laughter stopped as a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

“Hey, Yuuri?”

Risking looking up at whatever new mortifying thing could await him, Yuuri raised an eyebrow.

“Yea?”

Phichit leaned closer to Yuuri and lowered his voice slightly.

“Do you think that guy was a wizard? I mean he has to be something like that to be able to fly…”

Biting his lower lip, Yuuri considered this. Phichit wasn’t wrong, he didn’t know much about magic but the little that he did know included the fact that flying-magic was extremely hard and only skilled magic-users(excluding those born with the ability to fly, of course) was able to use it. There really wasn’t any other explanation, the stranger had to be a wizard or at least something similar(coming to this conclusion made Yuuri feel slightly better about being so easily charmed by the beautiful man, though he doubted that those blue eyes needed any magic to put a person under their spell).

“I guess he might have been…but if he was a wizard he’s nothing like I would have expected from the stories.”

Phichit easily scooted from his position from right in front of Yuuri to next to him and playfully nudged his shoulder.

“Well, if he was a wizard you should be really thankful that he wasn’t Viktor Nikiforov, otherwise he would have tried to eat your heart, and the only people sitting here would be me and a mere heartless husk of who you used to be.”

Yuuri chuckled humourlessly.

“If he was Viktor Nikiforov, I’d still be fine. You know he only eats the hearts of the most beautiful people.”

Phichit frowned as he looked Yuuri in the eye.

“Yuuri, we talked about this-”

“I know, Phichit,”

Yuuri cut his friend of with a sigh.

“I’m not talking bad about myself Phichit, I’m just stating facts. Can we change the topic please?”

Phichit sighed, but dropped the subject nonetheless.

“So, you’ll never guess who finally confessed their undying love for one another!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone liked this! 
> 
> Fun-Fact: 'Cricitinae' is the scientific name for hamsters. Me and my brother discovered this information online after I asked him what a good name would be for a good hamster-themed vigilante(I was playing around with some ideas for another YOI fic at the time, but I still don't have a decent plot for it so it'll stay in my idea-jar for now), he was quite amused and since it looked like that info might go to waste, I just had to use it here.


	3. Not a chapter, sorry guys!

Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated this in a while, but as the curse scene drew nearer I realized that I wanted to do something completely different to what I had planned originally, so I had to spend a while figuring out the new plan and I'm happy to say that I rather like what I came up with, unfortunately it had to take a backseat after some rl stuff got in the way, but that has been dealt with and I'm ready to focus on this fic as well as a couple of side-projects again. I assure you guys that what I already posted wont be changed, but I might have to edit some tags and/or the description, depends. Hopefully I'll update soon, just wanted to let you guys know that this aint dead! 

Thank you for your continued support even after my prolonged absence and once again, I'm really sorry for disappearing for so long!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri gets a surprise visitor during the night-shift at Yu-topia and we finally get a look at the 'castles' inhabitants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Does best Kuzco impression* Boom, I'm back baby! I just want to say thank you for everyone who was so freaking patient with me and for sticking around for so long, and I just want to apologize once again for my long absence, I'll do my best not to let it happen again! Also, there are some important info ya'll should know about this fic:
> 
> I decided that I simply had to add JJ! I cant help it, at first I found him annoying, then I read fics and did some deep personality analysis on him and, he grew on me, so just wanted to let ya'll know that he's 17 in this fic.
> 
> Okay, I took up enough of your time, feel free to read the story now! ^^

A week had passed since Yuuri’s encounter with the mysterious wizard. Each day that passed made the encounter seem all the more unreal, like it had been nothing more than a dream. Only the occasional strange look from passer-by’s (before you judge, keep in mind that he was seen soaring through the sky in a small town where nothing interesting ever happens, a few strange looks are to be expected.) and a teasing comment from Phichit every now and then, reassures him that he didn’t hallucinate the entire thing.

A sigh escapes the boy as he finds himself yet again daydreaming of long silver hair, magical blue eyes and an impossibly charming heart-shaped smile. Shaking his head to clear it of the image, Yuuri sighed as he started reorganising the front desk for the fifth time in the past hour for lack of anything else that he could distract himself with. Needless to say, he was unsuccessful as he once again thought of long flowing hair after a light flickered off of the small bell resting on the counter. 

As you all know, his family runs the only inn in Hasetsu, Yu-topia, so naturally whenever a traveller comes to the small town, whether it’s for a vacation from the city or they’re just passing through, it’s a strong possibility that they’ll be spending their stay in town at Yu-topia. Another common fact about travellers is that they can arrive at any-time, including the middle of the night, and as the Katsuki’s are extremely kind and caring people they would never refuse anyone a resting place, and thus they made sure to always have at least one employee manning the front desk at all hours.

The nightshift was usually quiet and whoever was currently on it could usually just sit back and relax, after all, all the work has already been done, the guests are all sleeping and the chances of someone just turning up in the middle of the night are next to none, so as long as they’re awake and ready to assist new arrivals you are free to do what you want. While it may seem as though the perks of the night shift are endless, it comes with one major drawback…its boring.

While there are several things a person can do to keep themselves occupied, there are only so many options before the possibility of a guest waking up is too big to ignore, only so may things you can clean before being left with depressingly shiny surfaces and only so many books you can read before getting desperate for movement, and well, its safe to say that Yuuri reached that limit…

Slumping forward, Yuuri allowed his head to make contact with the desk with an audible ‘thump’ as a sigh left the boy for the umpteenth time. The next three hours before his shift ends feels like three decades, he honestly doesn’t have the faintest clue about how he’ll survive until then. Luckily, the universe seemed to pity the poor human being and decided to send a break from the monotonous silence in the form of Minako Okukawa, Yuuri’s long-time dance teacher.

“YUUUURI! YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT GOOD NEWS I HAVE!!!”

Shooting up with a slight yelp, Yuuri stared at the woman that just barged through the doors with wide eyes, while she, completely undeterred by his reaction, continued to ramble on about how amazing she is and how he’s lucky to have such a wonderful, kind and generous sensei such as herself. After a few minutes, Yuuri finally found his voice again and cleared his throat slightly, hoping that he wasn’t about to be confronted by a tired guest who had their beauty sleep interrupted.

“Minako-sensei, i-it’s two in the morning, p-please lower your voice?”

Minako shot Yuuri an unimpressed look at the interruption, but seeing the worried look on his face, she relented by lowering her voice slightly. Her excitement though refused to be dampened as she twirled over to the desk and leaned over to him so that their noses were practically touching. Yuuri didn’t know whether or not he should be worried at the smile currently stretched across her face, after all that same smile had caused him quite a few less than ideal situations through the years.

“The Bolshoi are going on tour for the next six months!”

Yuuri’s attention was officially grabbed. The Bolshoi are the most talented and renown dance troupe in possibly the entire world! Minako told him all kinds of stories from when she used to be a part of it, the music, the elegant choreography and the grace that the dancers perform with… It has been one of his greatest wishes to one day see one of their performances with his own eyes ever since he first learned that Minako used to be a part of them. His teacher is the best dancer he’d ever seen after all, if everyone in the Bolshoi was on her level than he could only imagine how amazing they are.

His wish had to remain unfulfilled however, considering that the Bolshoi only performed in large, grand cities and wouldn’t be caught dead in a small place like Hasetsu, the cost of going to see them are far too expensive. Minako said that they were going on tour though, maybe they might pass through a nearby town? 

“Really, Minako-sensei? When did you get the news? Where will they be performing?”

Minako’s already wide smile stretched as she noted her pupil’s clear interest in the matter. Ever since he was a child, Yuuri had always pestered her for stories about her time in the dance troupe, back before she retired and became Hasetsu’s dance instructor. She knew that the boy would give an arm and a leg to be able to see them perform and now, thanks to her, that dream of his is about to come true.

“Well, Yuuri,”

Minako practically sung, as she pulled two tickets out of her coat’s pocket.

“you’ll have to find out for yourself when we’re going to attend their performance next week!”

.  
.  
.

“WHAT?!!!”

Yuuri practically screeched, completely forgetting about the slumbering guests for a moment there. It didn’t take him long to realise his mistake, though and he quickly slapped a hand over his mouth while the rest of his face proceeded to turn a lovely shade of red, much to Minako’s amusement.

_‘Damn, I can’t believe I just did that! Please let all the guests still be asleep, especially Mrs Cromby. If she woke up, I’ll never hear the end of it! However, I have to admit that it was worth it. Seriously! I can’t believe it! Tickets to see the Bolshoi perform! This, this is amazing! Minako must have…payed a fortune…’_

The smile that was spreading across Yuuri’s face started fading as he thought of how much Minako must have spent to get the tickets. It must have cost a small fortune considering what a prestigious group the Bolshoi are, and Minako got him a ticket. He has to pay her back, he just couldn’t accept such an expensive gift!

“Minako-sensei, I-”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Yuuri.”

Minako swiftly interrupted him in her sing-song voice and almost as if she could sense what was going on in her protégé’s head simply by the frown that was slowly forming on his face she added…

“An old friend of mine is a part of the Bolshoi, she sent me those two tickets completely for free, so you can just relax and stop stressing about how much money I did or did not spend. Honestly, you’re going to give yourself wrinkles like that.”

His smile returning at his teacher’s reassurance, Yuuri couldn’t stop himself from pulling Minako into a hug.

“Thank you, Minako-sensei! This is…just, thank you!”

***************************************************

Somewhere in the vast area known to people as ‘the waste’ a large…structure(?) was planted on the ground. The clanking and banging and creaking coming from it was the only sounds in the night air, at least it was until the loud voice of one of the structure’s inhabitants cut through the air. 

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!”

JJ only laughed at the blond teen’s words, barely managing to duck out of the way as Yuri lunged for him. He knew that he’d get this reaction when he first started teasing the teen and while some may call him suicidal for going through with it, he couldn’t help himself. It was just so much fun to rile the younger boy up, especially since he knows that the kid wouldn’t be able to go through with any of his…colourful threats. Talented as Yuri may be, he lacked JJ’s expertise and experience, at his current level he would be destroyed in a fair fight, which just seems to make Yuri more irritated.

“Calm down Yuri-chan.”

“I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU.”

Had the colour-wheel at the door not turned to black and Viktor entered through it at that precise moment, Yuri’s hands around JJ’s neck might very well have continued squeezing until the older boy’s air-flow was cut off completely. 

“Now boys, play nice.”

Luckily, that comment coupled with the heart-shaped smile he sent the two teens, was enough to get Yuri to clench his teeth and release his hold on his fellow apprentice causing the back of Jean-Jacques’ head to hit the ground. Yuri wasted no time in switching up the target of his anger while JJ wasn’t bothered in the slightest though, if his smile and the enthusiastic greeting he gave Viktor was anything to go by.

“Shut the fuck up, you shitty old man!”

“Had a nice time outside.”

Choosing to ignore Yuri’s usual stinging remark, Viktor gave JJ a nod.

“Wonderful, however I don’t have time to tell you all the details, because its…your bedtime!”

Maybe it was the jazz-hands he made while saying it, or the sing-song voice he said it in, either way, neither Yuri nor JJ looked impressed at the announcement.

“The hell, old man?!!!”

“What?! Why?!”

Sighing mentally, it took nearly all of Viktor’s self-restraint to keep his smile from slipping. If he had known that apprentices would cause so much stress, he’d have stopped at one.

“First of all, Yuri, my hair is silver, not grey. Secondly, we’re changing locations tomorrow and both of you will need to be top form to help out.”

That got the two teens’ attention as they perked up at the news.

“Seriously? We’re finally leaving this shit-hole?”

That’s Yuri for you…always a delight…

“I thought you liked the air here? What changed?” 

And that’s JJ, horrifyingly arrogant enough to make you think he’s not paying attention when he’s actually paying attention…

Smiling again, Viktor clapped his two hands together while cocking his head slightly.

“The wind shifted, now bed-time!”

Though the two still grumbled and complained horrifically, they at least followed orders and stomped off to their shared bed-room(admittedly a bad call on Viktor’s part, but it seemed like a good idea at the time and the noises of things breaking in there has gotten considerably less frequent since they first started), leaving Viktor as the only person in the room.

The result was almost immediate as his smile slipped off and an emotionless, nearly dead expression crossed his face and all the life and energy seemed to disappear from his movements as he walked over to the fire-place, plopping down in the chair in front of it.

“I take it this place didn’t have what you were searching for.”

A bitter laugh left Viktor as he propped his feet up.

“I’m not searching for anything and even if I was, there is absolutely nothing of any importance in that place.”

The fire crackled slightly and two concerned eyes looked up at the silver-haired man.

“I thought Hasetsu seemed like a nice place.”

Viktor couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Please, the people were like the town plain, uninteresting and unimportant, the only reason we stayed so long was because the weather was semi-pleasant.”

“Viktor, this lifestyle isn’t healthy-”

Scoffing, Viktor swung his legs back to the ground.

“I’m going to bed, this talk bored me to sleep.”

The fire was left alone in the room, its quiet crackling was the only noise in the silence.

_‘He’s growing colder each day, if nothing changes…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this, and sorry if I made any mistakes or if the characters seemed a little ooc! I'm not really used to writing Minako, and I swear that JJ will sound more arrogant later, he just didn't have enough lines right now and Viktor has to be a jerk right now for plot purposes, sorry! 
> 
> Anyway, I live for your feedback! Constructive criticism is more than welcome, just don't insult for the purpose of insulting please! And remember, I don't have a beta, so I'm counting on you guys to tell me if my grammar is atrocious or something, pretty please.
> 
> Thanks for everything guys and I hope to see you all in future chapters! (I'd also like to make a shout-out to my side-fic 'Katsuki 'Delinquent' Yuuri' ya'll don't have to, but I'd love it if you'd check it out, I'm kinda experimenting with a different writing style so any criticism would be really helpful!)

**Author's Note:**

> _This man was going to cause Yuuri to die of heart-failure, isn’t he?_


End file.
